Forth Wayne, Indiana is temporarily abortion-free now that an abortion practitioner who failed to properly report cases of statutory rape to state officials has stopped doing abortions. How long Ulrich Klopfer, the Illinois-based abortion practitioner who did abortions in this large Indiana city until problems came up recently, will stop doing abortions remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, women have now filed more than 1,200 complaints against him. The complaints are the result of 1,494 errors and omissions made by Klopfer between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2013 on terminated pregnancy reports that doctors are required by Indiana law to file for every abortion they perform. These complaints more than double the number of complaints currently pending against Klopfer.

Now, as the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel reports, Klopfer is stopping abortions because he doesn’t have a doctor at a local hospital to work with who will accept his patients in cases of botched abortions.

Klopfer, the Illinois doctor who has performed abortions in Fort Wayne for years but earlier this month lost his “backup” physician as required by local law, will no longer perform surgeries in his clinic at 2210 Inwood Drive, according to Cathie Humbarger, executive director of Allen County Right to Life.

Several calls placed by Right to Life supporters indicate Klopfer’s clinic in South Bend will accept Fort Wayne patients beginning next week, although pre-abortion counseling could continue to be offered locally, Humbarger said.

Klopfer confirmed he is taking a “hiatus” from performing abortions in Fort Wayne because of a lack of a required backup, but said he hopes to resume should he find a replacement for Dr. Geoffrey Cly, whose resignation is effective Jan. 1.

Humbarger said it would be premature to celebrate given Klopfer’s hoped-for return, but said the clinic’s demise would be “tremendous news for desperate mothers and babies vulnerable to abortion. Our goal has been to make Allen County abortion-free.”

The Allen County Patient Safety Ordinance requires doctors practicing but not residing in the county to have a relationship with a local doctor who can legally practice in Allen County. Additionally, state law requires abortion doctors to have local admitting privileges or have entered into an agreement with a physician who has admitting privileges at a hospital in the county or contiguous county in case of post-operative complications.

Cly, who is pro-life, said he agreed to serve as Klopfer’s backup in 2010 in order to protect the health of women receiving abortions from Klopfer, since he practices in Fort Wayne only one day each week. But in a Dec. 12 letter to Klopfer, Cly said he was terminating the arrangement because of Klopfer’s failure to file timely reports about abortions on girls under 14 as required by state law.

“Furthermore, you told an online news publication, RH Reality Check, that you now advise girls under 14 and their parents or guardians that they can go to Illinois or Ohio to avoid (Indiana’s) under-14 reporting requirement for child sexual abuse,” Cly wrote. “Your failure to report 13-year-olds’ abortions properly and your subsequent admission to advising parents to avoid state laws is alarming. According to Indiana law, sex with a girl under 14 – regardless of the perpetrator’s age – is child abuse. Your advice to cross state lines for abortions may help child abuse to continue and a perpetrator or abuser to walk free.”

“Abortions are legal, but I still want to keep women safe,” said Cly, who declined to comment on Klopfer’s future in Allen County.